Chapter 465: Code Name: R6 |
Sweden.
Stockholm.
That night, dusk settled in, and gentle moonlight dotted the elegant glass curtain wall of the ETHem Intercontinental Hotel.
In the top-floor suite, soft and soothing music flowed slowly, warm dim lights casting the blurred silhouettes of two people closely embraced, slowly dancing to the music across the wall.
"Was the host's dinner enjoyable?"
"Very good. IDC and UBM executives were all there. They were very satisfied with our performance and even want to invite us to be the main guest at the next event."
"Spare me, how many vendors do you think I had to deal with while you were away? My plan to hang out with Sister Chuchu was completely ruined..."
"But Secretary Chu told me you did great, very at ease?"
"Just a worker forcing through it."
"Excuse me, sir, how can you say something so shameless? Even the rats in Stockholm now know you are the one running GW. They show deference to you for form's sake..."
"Has anyone ever told you your little fake-angry face is adorable?"
"Huh? That transition in topic was kind of clumsy... Do you want a kiss?"
"Yours sounds even clumsier."
"Don't talk nonsense, seize the chance—opportunities don't come twice. Show some goodwill and I'll give you a mysterious surprise."
"Really?"
"Fake!"
"Even fake ones get a kiss—it's all profit anyway..."
"Ugh... you're so annoying..."
The temperature in the room seemed to grow hotter, the warm light making both their cheeks even rosier.
Their gentle dance steps grew dreamier, the tender brushing at temples like a tide. Under the night, the charming beauty squinted her eyes, lashes trembling in the soft halo of light.
But at that moment.
Ringtone—ringtone—
A sudden phone call interrupted that hazy moment.
Shen Miaomiao involuntarily rolled her eyes, half annoyed half amused, thinking how life imitates drama—of all moments, a call now really dampens the mood.
She lightly tapped Gu Sheng: "Answer the phone, big busy man."
Gu Sheng helplessly rolled his eyes too, like a fire stuffed into his chest.
He glanced at the time.
Only eight o'clock.
For a moment, it was unclear whether they were being untimely or the caller was clueless about romance.
Picking up the phone in the living room, Gu Sheng looked at the caller ID, his expression shifting, then sat on the sofa and answered:
"Hello, Bian? Calling so early—any progress?"
Right.
The caller was Lu Bian.
Hearing that, Shen Miaomiao was startled.
It's eight p.m. in Stockholm, which means it's... two or three a.m. back in Huaguo?!
Good heavens!
Lu Bian calling at this hour surely wasn't a late-night nostalgic call to check on Old Gu.
In other words!
At this very moment, they were still at the company working overtime, and it looked like they were preparing to pull an all-nighter!
Of course, as soon as I'm not in the office, they go wild, trampling company rules and ignoring the no-overtime norm!
Damn them!
When I get back I'm loading up on snacks and slashing your snack allowance!
What kind of company pulls overtime till two or three a.m.?
Crazy!
Shen Miaomiao wrinkled her nose, then leaned back on the other end of the couch to half-lounge and listen to what they were up to that late. One leg, fair and smooth, peeked from under the robe now and then.
Her pink arch lightly pressed against Gu Sheng's thigh, playful toes idly tugging at the bathrobe tie hanging at his waist.
Then Gu Sheng's large hand seized it; the faint heat from his palm spread, making her bite her lip with a mischievous smile.
Is doing something so dangerous allowed?
Gu Sheng sent a warning with his eyes to the sly Little Nezha.
Then Lu Bian's voice came through the receiver:
"Progress isn't optimistic, otherwise I wouldn't still be at the office with Sean and the others at this hour."
Ssss—
At that, Gu Sheng clicked his tongue and frowned slightly:
"As we expected, it's not easy to solve..."
"Not just not easy, it's extremely hard," Lu Bian sighed on the other end.
"This thing is more like an impenetrable barrier than a barrier. Even though no one is actively blocking us with it, the problem is no one is willing to research it."
"That leaves not only us helpless, but Phoenix can't really provide solid technical assistance either."
"And based on what Phoenix knows,"
"Right now, looking across the mainstream commercial engines globally, none can meet the performance standards we expect in this area."
Hearing Old Gu's phone conversation, Shen Miaomiao felt a little surprised.
It sounded like Lu Bian and the Melancholy Blues team were pulling an all-nighter to upgrade the engine.
But progress was far from smooth—one could even say it was going poorly.
What on earth are they researching?!
Who is Lu Bian?
Vice president of Golden Wind, former chief programming director.
A naturally gifted person who gathered knowledge from everywhere as Golden Wind surged forward, improving at lightning speed; a top-tier social coder who doesn't wear plaid shirts.
As a cornerstone of Golden Wind's games, Lu Bian had not only solid fundamentals but an exceptional creative ability.
It's hard to imagine such a person could be stumped by an engine component upgrade.
What's more absurd: this time, it wasn't just Lu Bian stuck—an engine maker at Phoenix's level was also helpless against the problem they faced.
This is bizarre.
Shen Miaomiao almost grinned.
They aren't trying to simulate controlled nuclear fusion with an engine, are they?
Otherwise, she couldn't think of anything else that could stump Lu Bian and Phoenix so completely.
"What are you guys... doing?"
Unable to restrain her curiosity, Shen Miaomiao asked.
"Ah... Chairman Shen is there?"
Lu Bian paused for a moment when he heard her voice on the line.
"Ah, right."
Seeing Little Nezha curious, Gu Sheng turned the phone to speaker:
"We just came back to the hotel from the GDC banquet."
"Ohhh," Lu Bian responded repeatedly, then hurried to explain:
"Uh, Chairman Shen, this... is an exceptional situation. We don't always pull all-nighters. It's just that this issue is a bit thorny—please spare us some snack allowance."
Pfft—
Shen Miaomiao couldn't help bursting into laughter, thinking, so you know what I'm for.
Clearing her throat, sounding 'serious':
"Then it depends on President Lu's performance. Be honest and give me a reasonable explanation, and I will consider leniency."
Lu Bian hurriedly thanked her: "Thank you, thank you. You're magnanimous, huge favor, happy family, twins in three years..."
"Stop joking around!"
Gu Sheng smacked his forehead. Staying up late couldn't exhaust this kid's tongue.
"Hahaha, seriously, seriously..."
Feeling Gu Sheng's exasperation, Lu Bian laughed heartily, then gathered his thoughts and explained concisely to Shen Miaomiao the reasons and sequence of events—
They were starting a new project.
This new project required a brand-new technical support that, for the Golden Engine, was novel.
Of course.
Although it was called a new project, Gu Sheng had actually planned and conceptualized this project long before Battlefield Winds.
But after consideration, Gu Sheng felt Battlefield Winds better showcased the Golden Engine’s physical destruction features.
So that project was set aside and Battlefield Winds was greenlit.
"Do you, Chairman Shen, remember that segment at the CJ exhibition during Battlefield Winds' live matchup, the scene where the Blue team assaulted a building?" Lu Bian asked.
Shen Miaomiao thought briefly and immediately recalled:
"Yes, I remember..."
At that time the Red team had taken the objective near the Blue team's base.
Blue couldn't tolerate it and sent a squad to assault and reclaim the point.
The battle took place in a two-story café.
Relying on the Golden Engine's physical destruction effects, that attack-and-defend skirmish opened a new door for a different kind of CQB in FPS games.
Attackers abandoned the old 'break in the door' mindset, instead using rocket launchers and C4 to blow up structures for surprise entries.
That match was one of the most exciting small-scale battle clips at the expo.
Even now, the footage remains a classic scene.
The creative attack thinking and thrilling combat choreography are still talked about by players.
"That attack-and-defend segment was actually the embryonic form of the shelved project," Lu Bian said after a pause.
"If we hadn't produced Battlefield Winds,"
"Then at the CJ expo we would have unveiled a game focused on three-dimensional CQB assault and defense,"
"In other words, the present project—"
"Code name: R6."
The Tom Clancy series.
Rainbow Six: Siege.
Right!
The project that had been shelved and was now revived, developed by the former Ubisoft team now at Melancholy Blues.
It was Gu Sheng's Rainbow Six from his previous life, nicknamed "Demolition Six."
This 5v5 FPS competitive game would completely overturn current industry assumptions about such tactical shooters!
With fully three-dimensional buildings and partially destructible walls, it would entirely differ from traditional FPS competitive game design!
It would also be the world's first "first-person indoor close-quarters tactical simulation and competitive game!"
"We call it—an FPS-CQB game," Gu Sheng said.
Huh??
Hearing Lu Bian and Old Gu, Shen Miaomiao's mouth curved.
No wonder players always say, "Never anticipate Old Thief, because Old Thief can always anticipate your anticipation!"
She had thought that was just teasing about Old Thief's schemes.
But it turned out Old Gu truly had extremely clear recognition of game planning!
She clearly remembered that when the CJ expo attack scene happened, many viewers in the chat said, "I wish there were a pure assault game like this."
And!
He actually had one!
It seemed Old Gu had prepared this plan a long time ago!
To some extent, this "Code Name: R6" game predates Battlefield Winds!
Only due to certain reasons was it shelved until now.
"There were two main concerns back then," Gu Sheng said.
"First is the factor of visual impact—"
Compared to Battlefield Winds, Rainbow Six's design is more exquisite, offering greater nuance in operational space and combat thinking.
But there is no denying it doesn't give the adrenaline rush that Battlefield Winds' large-scale scenes do.
And players who have watched Rainbow Six matches know this—
Rainbow Six's competitive livestreams are really not entertaining.
Terribly uninteresting.
Because of the multi-layered, three-dimensional map design, its tactical intent is much less intuitive than traditional shooters like CS.
On top of that, pro players' understanding of maps and attack-defense thinking is hard to align with ordinary players.
Crucially, Rainbow Six also has one of the shortest TTKs (time to kill) among FPS games.
With the one-shot headshot rule, kills happen in the blink of an eye.
All these factors combined make third-party casting terribly confusing and unpredictable.
Often commentators or observers haven't even caught up when the kill happens.
The end result is that it's "not fun to watch."
Players get lost; non-players get even more baffled.
Maybe that's extreme.
But to Gu Sheng, Rainbow Six might be the only game where the experiences of "playing," "first-person live-streaming," and "watching competitive matches" are completely different.
Playing: Awesome! Fun! Lively and exciting!
Watching livestreams: Nice gunplay, nice grenade, learn some tech from the streamer!
Watching competition: What the hell is this? Nobody watches this!
So it's absolutely unsuitable to feature at expos as a showcase.
Moreover!
"Due to the nature of the game," Gu Sheng continued, "R6's physical destruction is relatively restrained, and the engine effects it presents are definitely not as visually dramatic as Battlefield Winds."
R6 is more competitive while Battlefield is more entertainment-focused.
He couldn't simply mod Rainbow Six into total building destruction just to showcase engine destructibility.
That would ruin balance; defenders would stand no chance.
Besides that!
There was another problem they couldn't solve at the time and which remained unresolved now—
"Enhanced panoramic spatial sound."
Upon saying this, Gu Sheng focused seriously: "Our engine cannot achieve the enhanced panoramic spatial sound required by R6."
Consider this!
For a competitive FPS, "footsteps" and "sound effects" are two extremely important cues that can decide the outcome of a match.
From footsteps you can pinpoint an enemy's position.
From sound effects you can deduce enemy actions and what weapons they're using.
Take CS as an example.
If you're a defender holding a position on Dust2 in A site, under ideal circumstances you can, without peeking, determine someone is coming through A long, that there's a sniper in A door, a P90 pulled from the entrance, and after they take the blue box they toss a grenade toward you.
And you can quickly relay, "A long! A long! Fall back!"
All of this you didn't see, but you can deduce it with near certainty.
Sound information capture makes it possible.
But here's the problem—
Whether it's CS in Gu Sheng's previous life or in this world's Fireline Shuttle, they don't demand intense panoramic spatial audio.
Because their maps are mostly flat with little vertical difference and simple structure, players can easily tell enemy position, weapon, even approximate number from footsteps and sound effects.
Rainbow Six is different.
As a CQB game with maps entirely concentrated within complex buildings,
players face sounds from every direction and room.
You have to discriminate positions of same-floor rooms, and in three- or four-story maps you must identify sounds coming from above and below as well.
Compared to mainstream FPS actions—running, jumping, throwing, aiming—which create noticeable sounds, R6's sound sources are broader and more chaotic.
Crouching, going prone, setting gadgets, tossing equipment—even turning around, a very basic action, can produce fabric rustling in a quiet environment.
An excess of sound sources combined with highly three-dimensional map designs.
If you cannot present clear panoramic spatial audio,
for players it'll be a total disaster.
Moreover,
Golden Wind had to do more than what most developers even cared to attempt with "panoramic spatial audio"!
They had to go further!
Upgrade "panoramic spatial audio" to "enhanced panoramic spatial audio"!
Only then could players be granted hearing sensitivity beyond the real world, being able from subtle sounds to judge precisely which direction above their head an enemy was in, which room, whether they’d set breaching charges or placed explosive ammo, whether they're about to blow a hatch or rip up the floor for a vertical play.
If this failed,
the player's experience would be severely compromised.
They would devolve into "Where? Where? What the—how did that open? Where did he come from? Who killed me? Huh?"—a terrible mess.
"But the problem is..."
Gu Sheng spread his hands and shrugged, looking helpless:
"Before us, no developer has made, or even attempted to make, this kind of game."
"Maybe that's a bit absolute, but from our research,"
"All competitive shooters on the market use traditional map design,"
"No one makes CQB-style FPS..."
At this point Lu Bian chimed in over the phone:
"And that means we have no experience to reference."
"Starting from scratch is possible, but for us the time is too long—Melancholy Blues might have to devote the next three to five years to realizing this technology."
"That kind of efficiency is unacceptable to us."
Silence filled the suite.
Gu Sheng frowned in thought, and Lu Bian was thoughtful on the other end.
As for Shen Miaomiao...
Was all this because of the dumplings I ordered to spite you???
Ah???
Shen Miaomiao was stunned!
Clearly, the two of them had already explained the dilemma very clearly just now!
With their current technology, they couldn't meet the requirements for the project code-named R6!
Starting from scratch and spending three to five years would delay Melancholy Blues too much—they couldn't afford it!
So they came to me?!
Shen Miaomiao's expression was complex and subtle.
She even suspected Old Gu might already know about her midday talk with Aurora Games' chief director Maher!
I just closed that deal!
Shen Miaomiao looked at Gu Sheng.
I was about to give you a "little surprise"—gift you a fresh "small project" I, the chair, snagged!
Before I could speak, you slapped the answer in my face?
Ah...
Shen Miaomiao shivered a little.
Suddenly she felt this seemingly risky deal might be shaky.
Earlier she had thought sound's importance in a game was minor—just make it loud enough!
But after hearing Old Gu and the others, it was clearly not so simple!
In competitive games, sound is the decisive factor!
Arguably, it can be even more important than visuals!
Now she worried:
If I hand over Aurora's in-house engine cooperation to you, won't you take full advantage?
But on the other hand—
She had already reached a cooperation intent with Maher at noon; after GDC the two sides would enter detailed talks.
She was Golden Wind's chair, the nominal head.
If she backed out now, would it harm Golden Wind's reputation?
There are no truly sealed secrets in the world.
If she rebuffed Aurora Games, would Old Gu find out later?
Also, besides her, Secretary Chu knew of the Aurora cooperation.
Chu Qingzhou is currently Lu Bian's girlfriend—if the two of them talk about this, would Lu Bian snitch to Old Gu?
Ugh—
Thinking of this, Shen Miaomiao sighed painfully.
Nobody around her is trustworthy!
She definitely couldn't keep this from Old Gu.
If she concealed it now and Old Gu discovered later, she'd be the pure bad woman.
At that point, rebate or not wouldn't matter. No rebate could compensate for her relationship with Old Gu.
Moreover, hiding it couldn't necessarily stop Aurora from cooperating with them.
So!
After weighing everything, Shen Miaomiao decided to be upfront.
Why not try? Ultimately you can't stop Aurora from bringing their tech; better to be a supportive partner.
Besides, the outcome is not certain.
What if it loses money?
With that thought, she made up her mind, cleared her throat, and put on an air:
"Ahem."
"Little Gu... about this enhanced panoramic spatial audio engine upgrade technology,"
"I have a small suggestion. Would you be willing to hear it? Hmm?"